The best thing people could do is

[blues90]

Turn off their TV sets .

I saw a bit today of the so called news , plastic heads with permanent smiles glued to their empty headed faces . They smile whether the story is as monsterous as a story can be .

Not to drag up the past however we once had news casters capable of not expressing their opinion but still had the facial expression that old all that one needed .

These issues and horror stories are not a joke yet now with the pasted on smiles portay this image in living color and flying graphics .

Here we have people who are chosen and deconstructed and re-built into mindless faces in the image of a robotic machine that serve the machine .

In between this freak show are add after add of crap that only a few can afford , they portray the "house wife" with the latest cleaning tool as if this is to be desired and fills her life with joy as if this is her goal and sole purpose on earth . There is the car speeding on a open road forcing the image of youth and position and a freedom that is nothing more than a fools game .

They force you through the horror with a smile to desensitize and force the mind to switch from horror to the delight of a false promise that a product could never bring , talk about mind games and people wonder why the political arena is so very screwed up , they play the very same mind games , the very same de-construction and re-construction with the promise of a false hope spewed by words selected and re-selected , honed and fed into a minds image of unreality .

[patrice]

1. Absolutely! I keep thinking about the Animatrix

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Animatrix

Turn it off. Get up. Go out. Find some People. Do the Work that needs to be done.

[truedelphi]

2. What you are describing is one reason why I get my news on The Internet

The other reason is that I hate how the news has been made into a "commodity" rather than something We The People should receive in turn for the news channels being up and running on Our airwaves.

Every time I would be sitting in my California suburb and hear about "Tornado hits Chicago suburb, three killed, details at 10 Pm," I would inwardly shriek.

People all over the world have friends and family that live in other geographic areas. They need to know the name of the particular suburb in Chicago where said tornado occurred.

It actually is a safety issue - if everyone in the Western states who does not want to wait two hours for the info goes and calls the one million residences in the boonies outside Chicago, phone traffic goes into overload mode and emergency lines could crash.

In the old days of news, newscasters offered the full skinny when you mentioned an event: "JFK killed by lone gunman in Dallas today at 12:30 Pm"

Now everything is done to obfuscate so you tune into their show.

"Important leader killed in Texas earlier this week. Tune it tonight at 6 Pm. for details."

And even if you tune in, the modern news staff still leaves out one or two elements. They often leave out the "When" - so you are left wondering if an Oakland CA freeway tragedy happened at three in the morning or seven.

[RB TexLa]

3. Get ready to be flamed, you are going to be told how people have to turn their TVs on everyday

[boston bean]

14. poor rbgolen. I remember that thread. nt

[RB TexLa]

15. Well, I had no idea people did that.

[Faygo Kid]

4. I agree about your premise, but I have to keep it on to watch the game.

Seriously, I agree with you. We do have one newscaster that tells all that is needed with an expression, however.

[cynatnite]

5. No, don't agree...

TV is a tool. Use it either for good or evil. Some people use it to get informed along with other tools such as the internet, some use it as a babysitter, some use it to escape the real world, etc...

I get tired of hearing how the TV makes me do things, buy things....blah, blah, blah....

TV only has power if I allow it. The decision is mine on whether I change the channel or shut it off. I have the power to determine how much influence it will have on me. It's the same with the rest of the world. We're not all mindless automatons without the ability to make choices.

[AndyTiedye]

7. The Mindless Automatons Without the Ability to Make Choices are the 29%ers Who Still Support Bush**

[cynatnite]

8. Yeah, I forgot about them

:)

[blues90]

9. I didn't imply that all people were mindless idiots

I did imply for the most part most people are , there are exceptions to everything , it's not personal . The movie Network was pretty much on the spot .

Certainly there are cable stations for learning and educating as well as some movies however for the most part it's crap and who can say for certain that adds and opinions don't affect peoples actions unless you are like me and critical of all adds and block them out at least in the days I had nothing but regular TV to view . However cable began as a way to avoid crap now it has changed into the same swill by design and we still pay for it .

TV does show people and tell people what is expected and how to act and dress and what to buy and who is number one and it distorts truth and most people watch it . It has always layed out the grand scheme and mindset since it was invented . Now even the internet plays a hand in this .

[cynatnite]

10. Problem is you're making general claims about TV and people...

despite the claim you're not.

TV has the power to influence and it's up to the individual to determine if he or she will allow themselves to be influenced. It's a tool...a machine. How we use it determines how it affects us.

Now, I'm a TV lover of way back. I have always loved TV even over theatrical movies. I love the medium and all that it offers. Hell, I've got DVDs of several series. It's grown a hell of a lot over the years in an attempt to offer a wider variety to more people.

For the most part, it's a medium that consists of news, entertainment, information and education. It's a tool that is dependent on how it is used by individuals.

It's not evil and it's not good. It's a tool like my computer is a tool, like my car, my husband's hunting rifle, etc. That's it.

The only power it has is what an individual lets it have and the person using it should take responsibility for how they use it.

Here is a very liberal response to those who complain about the content on TV: Turn it off or change the channel.

[AndyTiedye]

11. Big Difference Between Computers (and the Net) and TV

You and I can ORIGINATE material and put it on the net for others to see.
Can't do that with TV.
We don't even have community access cable anymore in most places.
All you can do is turn it off or change the channel, and they control ALL the channels.

[cynatnite]

12. I've got several hundred channels...

how do they control all that?

I watch the documentaries and news, teenager watches teenager stuff, kid watches some cartoons and kid game shows, and hubby watches a few war movies, action movies and westerns.

They put out the content, but 95% of the time...there is always something else on worth watching. Plus it's all in the eye of the beholder.

The internet is a hell of a lot harder to navigate with the tons of crap floating around a lot of the good. It can take a while to find something I consider worthwhile.

It's all subjective.

[blues90]

13. It's just my opinion , I choose to keep it off . I was not about to go into

all possible reasons why people watch TV or what choices they have or write a book on the subject , so I generalized . With all due respect you had the choice to avoid this topic or tune it out but somehow I hit a nerve and you responded .

Explain the difference between this and the TV off switch or moving on to another topic .

I know well and good what choices I have with any form of media , that goes without saying .

I certainly can't control what people watch , don't want to , my point is there are enough people , probably most who are living off TV info , mainly the news they get . I was talking mainly about the news media .

[cynatnite]

18. Understood...

thanks for clarifying. Didn't hit a nerve with me...just offering my two cents like anyone else. :hi:

[angrycarpenter]

6. I get all my political news right here

TV is for cartoons.

[bemildred]

16. Yep, TV really is a sewer these days. nt

[zorahopkins]

17. I Want You To Get Up Out Of Your Chairs......

I want you to get up out of your chairs, go to the window, stick your head out, and yell,

"I'm as mad as Hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"